The G14 group of leading European clubs is expected to disband after dropping all outstanding legal actions against Fifa and Uefa as part of a deal struck between the professional game and the governing bodies yesterday.

The dissolution of the G14, first revealed by the Guardian last October, is part of a deal, finalised in Zurich yesterday, to compensate clubs when their players appear for national teams. In return the G14 will drop legal actions including the case brought by the Belgian club Charleroi over the Moroccan player Abdelmajid Oulmers and the French club Lyon over Eric Abidal. The deal also effectively ends any prospect of a breakaway European super league.

The deal is a victory for the professional clubs who have long campaigned for compensation when players are released, but the disbandment of the G14 will be welcomed by Uefa, which has exerted significant diplomatic pressure to reduce its influence. Uefa courted major clubs both inside and outside the self-selecting group of 18 clubs, inviting them to join a club forum that made the G14 less relevant.

The G14 executive insists that its aims have been met in the financial concessions. The organisation will be replaced by a more representative European clubs' association, which will be established this month with more than 100 representatives, including at least one from each of the 53 Uefa member associations.

The terms of the compensation agreement for players on international duty are yet to be thrashed out, but Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, and his Uefa counterpart, Michel Platini, described it as a "historic" day for football. "Something very special has happened today," Blatter said.